Finding Hope
by BryonyHornedOwl
Summary: With Tigerclaw as leader of ThunderClan, the Clan cats are put through misery and grief. Days and nights, the cats starve and long to seek revenge. Meanwhile, a kittypet named Tigress is having strange dreams from StarClan - will she get the message that she must help save ThunderClan? Or will she shrug it off under the influence it is all in her head?
1. Chapter 1

_**Please do not review **__**if**__** you are going to **__**spoil **__**anything in warriors. I have not read the whole series' and would not be very happy if you ruined the experience for me.**_

_**Happy reading and reviewing!**_

_Swift, silent paw steps travelled throughout the depths of the forest. A pair of ginger ears pricked forward, a white muzzle twitched. Golden green eyes flashed in the darkness, and the mottled tortoiseshell and white pelt of a she-cat melted into the undergrowth. The moonlit ferns danced in the night as she travelled alone, searching._

_A twig snapped. The she-cat whipped around, her ears held up like satellite dishes. A silhouette moved by her, tinged with silver. "Who are you?" the she-cat called out, turning around in circles. She jumped when the figure appeared in front of her – a large Tom._

"_Come with me" he hissed, whisking away into the undergrowth. The she-cat scented the air – she could smell nothing. Was she hallucinating? She shook herself as familiar voices echoed in her head…_

"Tigress!" the voice of a Twoleg awoke the she-cat from her dreams. She yawned and mewed in irritation. Her stomach growled, and the all-too-familiar shake of the box of dry food soon followed.

Tigress leaped down from the dining chair she slept on and crept along the black rug that covered the glossy wooden floor of her Twoleg's nest. She groggily approached her red, plastic food dish and peered inside, eyeing the contents with slight disinterest. _Ugh, the same thing every day! Bland, tasteless morsels – I may as well eat seeds!_ Tigress thought as she dug into the dry crunching balls of unnatural flavours.

She managed a third of what had been provided and stepped away, licking her lips. She shook her fur out and stalked away from her feeding area, her tail held up in a casual question mark shape.

The sleepy she-cat slipped behind a set of blinds and peered outside, watching as the rain began to fall. The colours of the outside world gradually became crystal-clear and vibrant as the skies grew covered with dark, angry clouds dampening the world with their frustrated tears. Everything in contrast to it was eerily beautiful.

Each drop of rain pounded every exposed surface in sight, pelting the glass windows with small, hollow thuds. Tigress sat on her haunches and lowered herself into a laying position, her eyes closed. Tigress lowered her head over her white paws as she was lulled to sleep by the beauty of Nature's rhythmic percussion.

_Rain danced across her pelt, filling Tigress's body with tingles of cold dampness. A lush, dense forest opened up around her, the occasional drops of rain managing to get through the protection of the foliage above. She blinked twice, opening her mouth to scent the area. All was strange, wild and untamed. She closed her mouth and was surprised as the Tom she saw in her previous dream materialised in front of her._

"_Come with me, to the Clan! Where the thunder strikes and the cats rise from the depths of the forest, from the deep ravine they call home…" his words seemed to come from all around her._

_Lightning flashed, revealing his dark ginger pelt. He stared into her with his deep, green eyes. He seemed to see right through her._

"_Join ThunderClan, you're the only one who can save us!" his voice was all that she noticed as the imaginary world around her disappeared…_

The monotonous hum of a vacuum cleaner brought Tigress to her paws. She was alert within seconds and sped off down the hall, away from the loud and distressing cry of one of the Twolegs' many machines.

She came to a stop at the front of the house and bounded up onto the arm of a couch, placing herself gracefully near the edge. The Tom's voice still echoed in her head. _Join ThunderClan, you're the only one who can save us!_

Tigress had never heard of such a thing as ThunderClan – perhaps it could be the name of one of the Clans that the neighbourhood cats gossiped about. Apparently one of them had chosen to live the life of a Clan cat and nearly killed one of them. She shuddered at the horrifying images in her mind. _What good would I be in a Clan of bone-eating murderers? _She thought.

But the Tom that she had dreamt of didn't seem anything like that. He had certain gentleness and wise about him, like a cat meant to lead. Perhaps he is the deputy of the Clan?

Why were the Cats of the Stars giving her dreams? Were they even dreams given by them? Tigress shook the thoughts away, for she didn't believe a kittypet such as her would be worthy of such things…

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	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter :D**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Warriors or associated characters, etc.**

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Firepaw stalked through the forest, the faint rays of sun dappling his bright, ginger pelt. He held his ears forward, focused on a European goldfinch singing happily. Its melodious voice carried throughout the forest, filling the world around Firepaw with a harmonious pleasure. His yellow eyes locked onto the black-and-gold plumage of the bird in front of him as he stalked forward on carefully placed paws. The moment he was in range, he stealthily arranged himself in front of the tree root the bird danced on and wriggled his haunches, keeping his tail stiff.

A sharp voice followed by a surprised yowl caused the bird to flutter away. _There goes a perfect catch,_ he thought. He heard the yowl again and sat bolt-upright, his ears erect and flicking in every direction. The voice of the cat he heard yowling sounded oddly familiar, and before he could react, Tigerclaw whizzed by him and pelted off. Firepaw watched as the dark tabby warrior disappeared into the dense undergrowth. He shook his head and sighed. _He's done something, I just know it…_

The apprentice was pulled from his thoughts as the skittish pawsteps of Ravenpaw soon followed behind. The timid apprentice stopped briefly and looked once at Firepaw, trembling, before setting off again after Tigerclaw.

_What's Tigerclaw doing with him?_ The ruddy apprentice frowned.

The young tortoiseshell she-cat known to the neighbourhood as Tigress leaped up and landed nimbly onto the fence that framed the bedraggled back yard of her Twoleg's nest. She sniffed around, her ears back and tail slowly flicking every so often. She was intent on taking in her surroundings after the rain, for in her opinion, the lush scents of the world were beautiful after rainfall. She sat and began grooming, her ears flitting about and catching sounds wherever they went.

The wooden planks creaked and shook as a black-and-white Tom bounded up the fence beside her. Tigress flinched and reeled back in surprise, then relaxed when she saw a face she recognised. "Hey Smudge" she mewed casually, licking a paw and brushing her cheek.

"Hi, Tigress" he replied, gently rubbing against her. Tigress purred and returned the friendly gesture. "Heard much news about Rusty?" her voice trailed off as the dreams flashed in her mind. _Join ThunderClan!_ The Tom's voice echoed in her head. She shook and realised she had been staring off into space whilst Smudge tried to get her attention.

"Hey! Are you alright?" he pawed the she-cat's shoulder as she came to reality.

"Yeah, fine…" she frowned. She looked down at her white paws, then returned her attention back to Smudge as he spoke.

"About Rusty," Smudge began. "He… he attacked me the other day, and then he realised it was me, and told me he's a Clan cat now" his voice seemed drenched in sadness.

Tigress frowned and sighed, meeting Smudge's gentle gaze. "You miss him, don't you?"

"Well, at least they haven't torn him to shreds yet" Smudge remarked.

The she-cat sighed as memories of her dream nagged at her tongue, trying to push its way out into words. Why was the dream so important it had to be told?

"I'll see you around," Tigress called over her shoulder as she dashed along the fence. The tortoiseshell she-cat felt her paws tingle with every step she placed upon the old fence. She frowned and came to where it ended before peering about. Up ahead, the lush, beautiful forest formed as the sounds and scents were blown towards her by a gentle breeze. She thought she could spot the silhouettes of two cats fighting and darting off into the forest, their fierce and frightening yowls echoing throughout.

She leaped down into the soft, damp grass and was greeted with a swarm of insects. She coughed and spluttered as a few found their way up her nostrils. The swarm eventually cleared away, and Tigress glanced about her, the mists slowly sweeping across the dewy grass. A sudden feeling of cheek alighted deep inside of her, and she felt her pelt prickle with anticipation. She wanted to get as far away from Twolegs as possible.

The she-cat felt her hackles raise, her tail puffed out. She no longer felt like some tamed, soft kittypet. With a yowl of defiance, she wriggled out of the pink collar around her neck and tossed it aside. A new sense of freedom rushed through her mottled tortoiseshell-and-white pelt, and she ran off into the dark, mysterious forest - fearless, wild and free.

Firepaw prowled through the undergrowth – he was determined to show Bluestar he was a worthy member of ThunderClan. The scent of vole was gently wafted up his nose, and the rodent soon appeared before him, scuttling through the crisp, brown leaves. Again, the apprentice elegantly dropped into a hunting crouch, stalking forward. The vole looked up; Firepaw froze and watched as it resumed rummaging and scavenging. He flicked an ear and twitched his nose as he sensed the presence of another cat.

Heavy pawsteps thundered from behind, and Firepaw was thrown aside and tumbled down into a hollow as muffled growls and mews followed. He groaned when he finally stopped, and found himself pinned beneath a tortoiseshell she-cat he had never seen before. He threw her off and got to his feet, frustrated that she was the cause of his Clan going hungry tonight. A low growl rumbled in his throat. "Who do you think you are?" he hissed, ears folded back and hackles raised.

The she-cat got to her feet and seemed to recognise the ginger Tom before her. "You!" she gasped, stepping back as she peered into the bright eyes of the cat she had seen in her dreams.

Firepaw frowned, confused. "Me, what?" he asked, sniffing the she-cat. She carried the faint scent of a kittypet in her fur, and was surprised when she slashed at him.

"I'll never join your Clan!" Tigress yowled and suddenly rushed at Firepaw with a fierce snarl, nipping his flank before haring off into the unknown. Tears streamed down her face and dampened the soft fur on her cheeks, her paws pelting hard against the ground as she travelled further and further into the forest. The forest slowly grew sparser as she continued onwards, until Tigress came to a clearing with an abandoned Twoleg building.

She crept forward and sniffed, the sour tang that the humans carried in their scent was faint and old. Boots and other ruined, unrecognisable footwear were scattered throughout the clearing. The she-cat peered into the open shack and tasted the air. _Doesn't seem too safe in there… _she thought. Something fell from inside it, and the already weary she-cat reeled back and padded away.

Nearby, a low, dense Pine came into view. It seemed peaceful and harmless, and so Tigress leaped up into the safety of its branches. She breathed in the beautiful scent and felt her paws beginning to ache.

_I'm so tired…_ She yawned and slumped down onto the soft, cool branch and curled up. She shivered a little and reflected on what had just happened. _It's all real… ThunderClan and Rusty, it's all very real_

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